Safeguarding and Child Protection

In Pond Meadow we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people. This includes doing everything we can to protect our students in school, at home, in the community and online.

We believe it is unacceptable for any child or vulnerable personal to experience any form of abuse and we recognise our responsibility to safeguard them. We expect all staff, governors, parents/carer and visitors to actively support this commitment.

Staff, governors, parent/carers and visitors are provided with guidance to follow, should they suspect a child or young person my be at risk of harm or experiencing abuse. We work co-operatively with other agencies to safeguarding and promote the welfare of children and young people.                                                          
At Pond Meadow we understand effective safeguarding requires a whole family approach and have signed up to Operation Encompass to ensure we can put support in place for our students where Domestic Abuse is a factor in their life. Our safeguarding team are trained in the procedure and can offer appropriate support to all affected.

Concern about students are discussed with parents/carers first; unless there is reason to believe such a decision would not be in the students best interest. If you see anything that gives you cause for concern whether that be at school, in the community or online you have a duty of care to report this to our safeguarding team. Please see below our safeguarding team and contact information.

 

 

Safeguarding team website poster

 

 

In dealing with concerns or allegations about a member of staff or a volunteer, please report it immediately to our Headteacher, Emily Hayward.

Should the concern or allegation be in relation to the Headteacher this needs to be raised with our Chair of Governors as soon as possible. Our Chair of Governors is Alex Page who can be contacted ap.gov@pond-meadow.surrey.sch.uk 

If the Chair of Governors is not available the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) should be contacted directly. Please see below their contact information and the contact information for raising a concern about a child or young adult to the appropriate services.

For further information please see our Safeguarding and Child Protection policy, along with our Whistleblowing policy for more detailed information.

Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO)

0300 123 1650

During School holidays:

If you are concerned about the safety of a child or young person outside of term time you can contact the Surrey Children's Single Point of Access (SPA) directly.  In an emergency call the Police.

Children's Single Point of Access (C-SPA) / Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

C-SPA provides residents and people who work with children in Surrey with direct information, advice and guidance about where and how to find the appropriate support for children and families. MASH provide the same service as C-SPA but for vulnerable adults over the age of 18.

Availability: 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday

The Emergency Duty Team (EDT) provides an emergency social work service for urgent situations which arise out of normal office hours and which cannot be left with an appropriate degree of safety until the next normal working day. The Emergency Duty Team service is not intended as an alternative means of accessing the usual daily activities of Surrey County Council.

The team operates outside of normal office hours

Availability: 5pm to 9am, Monday to Friday
Weekends 24 hours a day
The EDT also operates throughout all bank holiday periods